Environmental Design + Construction - October 2008 - (Page 20) Cool Roofing Fall 2008 > Welcome to Cool Roofing, Fall 2008, a special section in Environmental Design + Construction, Roofing Contractor and Sustainable Facility magazines. On the cover: This solar system was installed on a middle school in Pennsville, N.J. Ecostream and Tecta America were both involved with the project. The panels are made by SolarWorld. (Photo courtesy of Ecostream.) Cool Roofing News/Product Roundup ROOFING SYSTEM INSTALLED ON LEED PLATINUM PROJECT IN NAPA VALLEY SAGINAW, Mich. — The Duro-Last roofing system has been installed on the Bardessono Inn & Spa in Yountville, Calif. The spa is scheduled to open in February 2009 and will be submitted for LEED Platinum certification. The spa consists of five separate buildings that are protected by almost 80,000 square feet of Duro-Last’s single-ply PVC roofing system. The spa’s prefabricated roofing system was manufactured at Duro-Last’s Grants Pass, Ore., facility and installed by authorized contractor Fidelity Roof Company of Oakland, Calif. Fidelity is also an approved installer for SunPower, the manufacturer of the PowerGuard solar electrical system that will provide electricity to the spa. The spa's many sustainable building features include a ground source heat pump to provide both heating and cooling; occupancy sensors to control electrical usage in every room; the spa makes extensive use of wood salvaged from native California trees; concrete and steel materials include a high percentage of recycled content; low-VOC paints and adhesives are used throughout the complex. Visit www.duro-last.com for more information. DOW BUILDING SOLUTIONS ACQUIRES STEVENS ROOFING SYSTEMS MIDLAND, Mich. — Dow Building Solutions, a unit of The Dow Chemical Company based in Midland, Mich., announced that it has agreed to acquire Stevens Roofing Systems and Geomembrane Systems, a business of JPS Industries Inc. Stevens Roofing Systems, based in Holyoke, Mass., manufactures reinforced thermoplastic (TPO) commercial roofing systems. “TPO roofs are the fastest-growing segment of commercial roofing,” said Jody Wise, vice president of marketing for Dow Building Solutions (DBS), who noted that the acquisition poses “a terrific growth opportunity for Dow.” Stevens Roofing’s president, Peter Kesser, said the agreement combines two companies with complementary strengths. “An innovative company like Stevens has led the way in thermoplastics, but as the market changes the big guys jump in,” Kesser told Roofing Contractor. “This allows us to have the horsepower of Dow behind us.The combination of Stevens’ innovation and Dow’s research and development makes this a Dow Building Solutions’ participation in the commercial construction market centers on creating energy-efficient structures, including insulation, weatherization systems and exterior wall systems. “DBS is focused on investment for long-term growth in segments that are less cyclical,” Wise said. “The commercial roofing segment has been running pretty strong for a few years now, and growth is expected to continue at around 20 percent a year.” Visit www.dow.com/styrofoam for more information. STUDY SHOWS GREEN ROOFS DIFFER IN BUILDING COOLING, WATER HANDLING CAPABILITIES AUSTIN,Texas — The first study to compare the performance of different types of green roofs has been completed by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin and suggests that buyers shouldn’t assume these roofs are created equal. Interest in vegetated roofs has increased as water and energy conservation becomes more important to property owners.Yet the study of six different manufacturers’ products found the green roofs varied greatly in capabilities such as how much they cooled down a building’s interior and how much rainwater they captured during downpours. “Just having a green roof may not mean anything in terms of preventing water from reaching the street level, for instance,” said Dr. Mark Simmons, a center ecologist and the lead investigator on the study. “Green roofs have to be done right, and our hope is to help manufacturers understand how to improve their designs.” Part of the rooftop differences, Simmons noted, resulted from the native plants used on the green roofs. Each had 16 different types of plants native to Texas in a similar arrangement as part of this first-ever study of their use on green roofs.The study didn’t directly measure their cooling impact. However, plants cool surfaces by providing shade, and by shedding water to cool down, like humans do by sweating. States such as Texas that experience flash flooding may benefit even more from the ability of green roofs to capture water, lessening runoff onto streets and storm drains.Yet this feature varied the most among the six manufacturers.The better green roofs retained all of the water during a ½-inch rainfall, and just under half the water when 2 inches of rain fell. Some roofs, however, only retained about a quarter of the water in a light, ½-inch rain and as little as 8 percent during deluges. The presence of native plants likely helped all the green roofs capture water better. In comparison to sedums, a type of succulents traditionally used on most green roofs, native plants can take in more water and release more of it to the atmosphere.The center will study these factors in future green roof research.Visit www.utexas.edu/news/2008/07/28/green_roofs for more information. 20 Cool Roofing > Fall 2008 http://www.duro-last.com http://www.dow.com/styrofoam http://www.utexas.edu/news/2008/07/28/green_roofs
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